I Saw You
by musingbella
Summary: A chance meeting, a personal ad in a newspaper - will Bella and Edward make a connection? Or is there more to this story...?


**A/N: Alright, everyone – this is my first effort, so please be gentle. The concept is simple – have you seen the "Chance Meeting" ads in the paper or on craigslist? That's it… **

**Thanks go out to LivingWithEdward, my bloggie bestie, who challenged me to a fic-writing contest and without whom this wouldn't exist (you have to put yours up now, love!), and Blue_Darcy77, who was nice enough to beta! Big sloppy kisses to both of you!**

**I own Twilight… books and movies. The characters and all that good, lucrative stuff belongs to S Meyer – just thought this might be fun…MB**

**.oOo  
**

**5pm, Thursday 1/20, on the corner of Pioneer Square**

You: Jeans and a gray thermal. It was raining (of course). I was the girl with the yellow umbrella. Coffee? Drinks? Wouldn't mind getting wet with you.

**.oOo**

**EPOV**

Jasper stood waiting for my reaction to the ad he had just handed me.

"You think this is me?"

"Dude, of _course_ it's you! Are you kidding me? Alice showed me this after she saw it today – you know how she loves to read those chance meeting ads every week – _she_ knew it was you, man! " He began ticking off his fingers, "Jeans and a thermal; that's right by your work – I'd bet you were headed for the MAX around 5 that day – and I distinctly remember having to clean up after your sopping wet, muddy ass last Thursday before Ali came over." He looked at me smugly.

He was right, too. I had been caught in a downpour on my walk home from the MAX stop last Thursday, and tracked shit through the house on my way to my room. And my little sister, Alice, always came over on Thursdays to chill with Jasper, who she'd been dating since forever, to watch the NBC comedy lineup. We usually made a night of it – got beer, pizza, and just laughed our asses off at the stupid sitcoms.

…OK, yeah, fine, I thought they were hilarious.

"Whatever, dude. It's not like I'm going to answer a personal ad." I told him.

**.oOo**

**BPOV**

"Wouldn't mind getting WET with you?" I shrieked into my cell phone, before realizing everyone in the store was staring at me. I lowered my voice to a hiss and continued, "Alice! Call me back when you get this message so I can find you, rip your arms off, and beat you with them. NOW."

I flipped the phone shut, missing the days when we had receivers we could slam down in anger when the moment called for it.

I both could and could absolutely not believe Alice had done this to me. What was worse: I had let her. I was as mad at myself as I was at her… no. No, I wasn't. I was definitely more mad at her. I had told her she could write up an I Saw U ad in the Mercury for me after I couldn't stop gushing about this guy I'd seen last week, but what kind of guy was going to actually seek someone out from an ad like that? I may as well have just literally thrown myself at him when I saw him.

I sighed, and tried to refocus on my grocery shopping. My phone chirped, alerting me to a text.

_Don't be mad. It'll work. Trust. –A._

I turned the phone off without responding and steered my cart down the cookie aisle. Chips Ahoy, that's what I needed. Not Alice, who I'd known all of two weeks and who, for some reason, thought herself responsible for mending my love life, or lack thereof. Cookies would make me happy. Cookies had always been there for me. _Hello, cookies._

As I meandered through the aisles, checking items off my list and pondering how long I'd have to avoid a certain corner of the city or whether I should just throw away my yellow umbrella (_uh, yes_), I thought about exactly why I'd let Alice do this to me. And I realized I'd had nothing to lose.

I pulled my phone out of my purse as I waited at the checkout for my turn and sent a quick text to Alice.

_Alright, I trust you. See you tomorrow?_ –B.

**.oOo**

**EPOV**

"Jas, man, I fucking told you. I'm not answering a goddamned personal ad. This girl is probably the most desperate, homely, sad sack you've ever seen. Who puts fucking ads in the paper when they see someone on the street? For all she knows, I'm some sort of maniac who wants to chop her into little bits!" I was damned tired of this line of conversation and had no idea why Jasper insisted on bringing it up for the umpteenth time.

"Dude, chill. I'm just saying you should respond and tell her to meet you somewhere where you'll be able to check her out first. Obviously, she knows what _you_ look like, so she can't see you first. But what if she's totally hot? Aren't you even curious?"

"Jas, what if she's totally _crazy_? Who gives a shit about hot if she's going to be another Tanya and try to set herself on fire to get my attention outside my office board room window during the annual investor's meeting? Seriously? My career can't handle that shit again – I'm lucky Aro and Caius didn't fire my ass the first time. Why are we even talking about this?" I wasn't budging on this. I took a faux-stern tone: "Jasper, no means no. This is peer pressure, and I don't have to take it." I managed a quick scowl before I broke and grinned at him.

Jasper laughed. "Alright, man, whatever you say. But Alice will be here in twenty, and you _know_ she'll have an opinion of her own."

He was right. My little sister could be an immovable force, for one so small. "Shit. Control your woman, bro." I threw the nearest pillow at him.

"Pillow fights? Really, boys? Well, I guess that makes you not having a girlfriend understandable, Edward." Jasper's sister's voice chafed me from behind – and I mean in my _special place_.

Jasper gave me a look of pure feigned innocence that I took to mean he had known she'd be coming over.

"Rosalie. How lovely of you to join us. What a lovely surprise." My voice was heavy with sarcasm.

Rose chuckled. "I suggest you do whatever it is Alice wants you to – I could hear the end of your conversation from outside before the estro-fest started in here. She'll get you to do what she wants, no matter what it is. You know I always bet on Alice."

God, she was so self-righteous. And what I hated the most was how right she was. Alice had me by the short and curlies ever since she was little – she'd been really sick as a child, and mostly bed-ridden. I had tried to play with her in her room as much as I could, but she'd had almost no "normal" childhood experiences; she was home-schooled until high school and she didn't have any friends. I was Alice's whole world until she met Jasper her Freshman year – since then, they'd been inseparable, and I'd just been so unspeakably grateful that she could have a normal life after all the heartache that I gave into her every wish whenever I could. Rosalie was right: this would undoubtedly end up the same. There was little I could deny Alice.

I was still scowling at Rose when her fiancé Emmett strode in with Alice. "Look at the pixie I found in the parking lot!" he said, smiling.

"Hi guys!" Alice beamed. She ran over and gracefully threw herself into Jasper's lap, batting her lashes up at him. "Miss me?"

"You know I did, dollface." Jasper replied, kissing her nose.

She turned her attention to me, with a dazzling smile. "So, Edward, about this chance meeting ad…"

**.oOo**

**BPOV**

What. The fuck. Was I doing? How had I let Alice talk me into this? Here I was, sitting at Starbucks – with my _back to the windows_, as instructed – with my stupid, salvaged-from the-trash-bin-by-Alice yellow umbrella hanging off the back of my chair like some sort of desperate beacon: _here I am, strange man I saw crossing the street! Come talk to me and please don't eat my intestines later. Kthanks._ Yeah, this was a really good idea. Charlie would be so proud. I did still have my mace with me.

Would it be weird if I was reading when he came in? This was so fucking boring, just sitting here, holding my coffee, waiting. Of course, the girl who supposedly wrote a personal ad to the strange man she saw on the street one day maybe shouldn't be so concerned about being weird.

Suddenly, the hair on the back of my neck stood straight out, and I looked up. _Fuck. Me_. The guy who had just come in was tall, chiseled, and rumpled in all the right places. I could only see his back, but his hair looked like sex; it was sticking out of his head every direction in the best possible sexed-up way, like someone had just been running their fingers through it and pulling on it, and the way his jeans were hanging off his ass was making me want to do the same thing. _Oh, please, be my mystery man_. He was the right size and shape, but it was hard to tell because his hair had been wet, so I didn't really know what color it was. If I was being honest, despite what I'd indicated to Alice, I hadn't even gotten a good look at the mystery man's face because of the distance and my fascination with his fingers. I'd seen his body first – he hadn't even had a coat on, so the rain had glued his thermal to his body in interesting ways – and then my attention had been drawn to his left hand, hanging at his side. It seemed to be involved in a task all its own, like he was playing an instrument in his mind and his fingers were following suit. Good Lord, his fingers – they were long and graceful and riveting. Of course, I wasn't going to admit this fascination with a strange man's fingers to Alice, who I hardly knew, so I had just gushed about him in general. For all I knew, the mystery guy had a hairlip.

The guy who had just walked in to the coffee shop started to turn then, and I got an eyeful of a fuckhawt jawline. What I wouldn't give to run my tongue –

"Bella? Bella Swan?" He was looking right at me.

No. Fucking. Way. It was Edward Cullen.

**.oOo**

**EPOV**

I should have known she was behind this. Alice. But how did she manage it? I knew she wanted to get me a girlfriend – romantic that she was – but this was especially crafty for her. Usually she was as subtle as a Mack truck. But how did she even know who Bella Swan was to me? I didn't think I'd ever told her about that night…

_I was at a party that an old friend from high school had thrown with her housemates. Jessica had introduced me to each of them except one – I sensed she was saving her for last. I was sitting at the bar in their basement when Bella – the sixth housemate – sauntered up in her skintight jeans. "So, this is the one you've been telling me about?" she said to Jessica, all the while giving me an eyefuck like I'd never before received._

_She was gorgeous, and the attraction between us was as undeniable as the rock-hard erection I had as soon as she approached. The room fairly crackled with the electricity, and it was all I could do not to throw her over my shoulder like a caveman and run away with her. Luckily, she beat me to it._

_We'd been sitting, flirting, and drinking for awhile, as the party continued around us. A couple of guys she worked with – Jake and Mike – were there, too, and I could tell they were drooling over her the same as I was, only I flattered myself I was doing a better job of playing it cool… which wasn't saying much, where these two were concerned. She was playing bartender and, apparently, matchmaker. She mentioned her housemate Angela was interested in one of the guys – Ben, I think – and became preoccupied with making sure they hooked up that night. We were discussing how to make that happen when she suddenly grabbed my hand and pulled me up the stairs toward where Angela and Ben had disappeared a little while back. We were basically ditching Mike and Jake, but who cared? Not her, as we reached the landing where she slammed my back against the wall and began virtually devouring my mouth._

_Bella's tongue warred with mine while I heard Jake and Mike awkwardly try to avoid listening to the moans they were clearly hearing from where we grappled just around the corner of the stairs. Bella pressed herself against me and I hitched up her legs and spun us so she was pressed against the wall instead, her arms quickly snaking around my neck and grabbing onto my hair._

"_Which one is your room?" I gasped, as I pulled away from her for a second, leaning my forehead against hers._

"_Top of the second stairs, first door on the right. " She replied, huskily. I let her down, and she grabbed my hand again, giving me a saucy grin and leading me the rest of the way up the flight of stairs and into the living room, where we did indeed find Angela and Ben – we were looking for them at some point, weren't we? – making polite conversation on the couch. No, really. That's literally what they were doing._

"_Look, you two." Bella said, clearly having had enough to drink to lower her inhibitions beyond the idea of letting her friends take things slowly. "You like each other. Right? Just go for it." Angela and Ben looked mortified, but Bella just glanced back at me with a smirk and pulled me around the corner and up a second flight of stairs and into her bedroom. This girl was the one for me. Saucy and sexy and smokin' hot._

_Once in her bedroom, though, she got shy. And goddamn if that wasn't hotter than the girl who'd thrown me against a wall. She flicked on the light and closed the door, then turned and leaned back against it, biting her lip and looking up at me between her lashes like all, "Gee, Mr. Cullen, now that you have me alone, whatever will you do with me?"_

_I had a few ideas._

_I stepped slowly toward her, keeping my eyes on hers as I approached. "I like your room, Bella. Why don't you give me the tour?" _

_She licked her lips and smiled. "Sure," she said, seeming to come back a little from her momentary trip to Shyland. She gestured to her right, "Here's the closet. That's where I keep my clothes. And over there," she gestured slightly behind me, "is my bookshelf." She was still meeting my gaze, but now she started walking toward me, backing me up. My legs hit something behind me and I sank down automatically, sitting, "And this," she continued, "is my bed."_

"_Mmm-hmm." I said, putting my hands on her waist and pulling her toward me. "And what do you use it for?"_

_She threw her head back and laughed, then met my eyes again. "Why don't I show you?"_

_As Bella leaned in to kiss me again, I was hit with her scent – strawberries and something floral – and my body reacted as if to a trigger. I pulled her into me and flipped us so she was on her back on the bed and I was hovering over her. "I have a better idea." I told her. "Why don't _I_ show _you_?"_

**.oOo**

**BPOV**

Edward. Fucking. Cullen.

This did nothing to help the nerves I was already harboring thanks to mystery man, who could show up any moment. Fucking swell.

"Oh my God, Edward?" I replied, figuring playing dumb was out of the question. "Wow, I haven't seen you since – um, I mean, it's been awhile. How are you?"

He grinned his stupid crooked grin at me, and I was disappointed to find my stomach still flip-flopped at the sight of it. Stupid, traitorous stomach.

"I'm good, Bella. How have you been?" He moved as if to sit with me, and I panicked.

"Um, wait, I'm sorry. Actually, um, that seat's sort of taken. I'm expecting someone."

He sat down anyway. "I know."

"No, seriously, he might get here any – wait. What do you mean, you know?"

"You're waiting for me." He said, giving me that ever-loving grin again.

Oh, fuck that. I smiled at him in my most condescending way. "Edward, I am glad to see that you are well and alive and – seemingly – remain uncastrated, but I am actually waiting for someone, so if you could just –"

"Bella, stop. I'm seriously here for you. Yellow umbrella? I'm your 'chance meeting.'"

I stared at him, trying to figure out how he could know that if he wasn't the mystery man, and coming up with nothing. This just figured.

"I don't know how my sister managed to set this up, but I'm sure she didn't realize we'd met before. I'd like to apologize – "

I cut him off. "Look, Edward, your apology comes a little too late, and it's not even necessary, really. I mean, I'm over you – over _it_. It, not you." _Nice recovery, kid. _"Fuck." I muttered.

Edward stared at me for a second, before his face softened into a small smile. He cleared his throat. "Well, Bella, I'm glad to hear that, but what I wanted to apologize for was not _that night_ (although I'm not saying I don't owe you one) but rather the unfortunate coincidence that I'm who my sister lured you to meet somehow. I take it you know Alice?"

Well, this was a surprise. "Alice is your sister?"

He nodded.

"Well, yeah, I know Alice. I started working at the same office as her two weeks ago and she chatted me up the first day. She tried to get me to go out with her brother but I declined – it just seemed like a bad idea to date the relative of someone you work with. I mean what if it doesn't work out?" I realized too late that I was rambling. "So yeah," I concluded. Lamely.

Edward was just sitting there, smirking at me.

I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms, giving him my best bitch brow. That seemed to snap him out of it.

"Look, do you want to get out of here? Let me buy you dinner and we can maybe talk?" He looked hopeful.

Honestly, I didn't know what to do. Here he was, in all his fuckhawt glory, wanting to take me out, but I couldn't just forget what had gone down before. _Heh._ If only…

_He had thrown me down on the bed with a promise to illustrate its uses to me – at least I hoped they were plural – and we'd started making out like it was going out of style. All signs pointed to Bella-gets-some, but then all the drinking I had done earlier started to catch up and I suddenly needed to pee. Badly. With a vow to return quicker than a wink, I ran across the hall to the bathroom to take care of business. _

_Now that I was removed from the situation, though, the opportunity to freshen up became just as alluring as what awaited me across the hall, so I stopped to take stock of the situation: I made sure my underwear were presentable (thank you, Lauren, for advising me to always "dress for the occasion"), that I had nothing in my teeth and no foul odors or toilet paper sticking to me, I brushed my hair and gave myself a quick mirror-image pep-talk along the lines of "don't fuck this up for us," and I was back in the hall._

_I soon found it had all been in vain as the man was gone and my door was ajar. I looked out the window just in time to see a car backing quickly out of our driveway and speeding away – I couldn't tell for sure that it was Edward's, but just before it drive off, the top half of Jake emerged from the rear passenger window and I clearly heard him laughing. Lauren later reported Edward had been with Mike and Jake when they left – she'd seen them leaving with arms around each other, all buddy-buddy. There was no note, and I received no texts, e-mails, phone calls, smoke signals, or anything. Ever. What. The. Fuck?_

**.oOo**

**EPOV**

She seemed to be contemplating my offer of dinner when her phone buzzed briefly. She looked down at the display, then up at me, and muttered "Alice" in a tone that sounded like she was swearing. She flipped open her phone, read the text, flipped it shut and closed her eyes, taking a few deep breaths. I was about to ask if she was okay when she looked at me and said, "Alright, Edward, where should we eat?"

Now we were walking to a great Mexican place I knew a few blocks away. It wasn't fancy, and I hoped that would win me points – I wasn't trying to woo her with wealth, but with stealth, which is what I knew it would take at this point. I didn't even know if she would hear me out, but I had to at least try to explain myself. I'd been given a second chance, and goddamnit I was taking it.

I held the door of the restaurant for her and took her coat as she sat down.

"What's good here?" She asked me.

"It sounds trite, but _everything_. I have never had a bad meal here." _And please, God, don't let this be the first_, I prayed.

Once we ordered, I figured I might as well get down to it. _Heh. Or maybe later… if this goes well._ I shook my head quickly, needing to get it out of the gutter.

"Bella, I don't know how Alice managed this, but since we're here, I'd like to try to explain why I – well, uh – left like that." _Very articulate, Edward._

"And why you haven't tried to explain before now? I'm all ears."

_Shit._ She was still pissed. Not that she didn't have every right to be.

I took a deep breath and began…

_I'd been waiting for Bella to return from the bathroom, doing a quick inventory of my person while I had the chance: no stuff in my teeth (thank goodness girls always have mirrors in their rooms), no funky stank emitting from my clothes or body, no stains or foreign objects on me anywhere – everything seemed to be in shape. Then the door burst open and those two yahoos from downstairs fell on top of each other trying to get through it. They had clearly kept drinking after we'd headed upstairs, and they had quickly progressed to an obnoxious level of drunkenness. I mean, we'd been gone, what, 20 minutes? These guys were plastered. Jake was trying to talk to me, but all he could manage to spit out so far was my name, over and over again, and Mike had a look on his face that I recognized as trying-not-to-puke. Fuck! I couldn't have him tossing his cookies all over Bella's room._

"_Whoa, guys! Back it on up outta here – why don't you get some air?" I suggested._

_Jake was still whispering my name over and over, but finally he reached his point, "Edward, man, we need a ride. The buses have stopped and we are to drive to drunk. I mean, prob'ly I'd be okay, but Mike drove and he won't give me his keys…"_

_Mike looked like he was about to give us both the contents of his stomach, and I needed to get them out of here before Bella got back. Talk about a mood killer._

_I slung one of Jake's arms over my shoulder – he'd never made it totally upright after stumbling through the doorway – and steered Mike down the stairs to the front door. He turned his glassy stare my way as we stepped off the porch and said, "Thanks, man," then puked all over me. So much for my impeccable personal inventory upstairs – there was no way I was getting any now. But I couldn't just ditch the girl – I mean, she'd see that I wasn't in the same condition in which she left me and we'd exchange numbers and I'd call her or some shit, right? But I couldn't go back in the house like this… what to do?_

"_Fuck!" I was pulling at my hair._

_I'd deposited the two drunks in my backseat with a promise from me to drive them home in return for a promise from them that they wouldn't vomit all over my backseat. It was going to be bad enough that the puke I was wearing would touch my upholstery, I didn't need more._

_Jake rolled down his window. "What're you doing out there, Eddie?"_

"_Don't fucking call me Eddie. I'm trying to figure out how to explain this to Bella, you asshat."_

"_Just call her tomorrow, she's a cool girl. She'll totally understand." He slurred at me._

"_That would work beautifully if I had her phone number." Maybe I should just ring the doorbell and hope she'd come down? Or I could try throwing pebbles at her window…_

_Jake was talking. Still. "I have it! I'll give it to you. But I don't know how much longer Mike's gonna last – he doesn't look so good…"_

_OK. This might be a plan. I could take these two idiots home and get her number from Jake, then text or call her once that was done and explain what had happened. That was an okay plan. I mean, things had gotten pretty heavy upstairs, but we'd only just met tonight, so it wasn't like I couldn't come back from this disappearing act. I got in the car and backed out of the driveway._

_As I was putting the car into drive, Jake stuck himself halfway out the window, cackling like a maniac, and howled at the moon. "I'm a wolf, guys! Awooooo!" How had I gotten myself into this situation? Fuck me, as long as I could figure out how to make this up to Bella – and I had a few ideas – it was all going to be worth it in the end._

**.oOo**

**BPOV**

Was he kidding me? It couldn't be that simple. And he still had never called, or texted, or done anything to tell me what had happened. I didn't buy it.

"OK, Edward. So why didn't you call me then? "

He rolled his eyes, "Because that dickwad, Jacob, didn't give me your number. I thought he meant he had it, like, in his phone. He meant he had it at work. On the employee contact list or whatever. And I gave him my number, so he could get it to me later but he never did."

Hmm. That made sense. Jake had gotten fired the next day for barking – literally – at a customer, so he wouldn't have had a chance.

"I'll give you that one. But you were Jessica's friend, you had her contact info. Why not call her?"

"I did! She read me the riot act for what happened and refused to put me in touch with you! So I came over a few days later and left that note and the flowers, and when you didn't call me or get in touch with me, I figured it was you who was rejecting me, and it wasn't anything I didn't deserve, so I stayed away." He had this dejected look in his eye as he quietly finished.

But wait, what?

"What flowers and note?"

"You didn't get them? I left them on the doormat." He looked suspicious.

I shook my head. "No, I didn't – wait. Wait. Oh, you've got to be kidding me. That bitch!" I suddenly remembered flowers. And I remembered that fucking Lauren had told me Mike had brought them over. "Lauren lied to me about the flowers. I never got a note from you – I heard Jake laughing and howling as you all drove away – Lauren was also the one that told me you were the one driving – and so I had no reason not to believe her. I _am_ surprised that Mike never owned up to not having gotten them for me when I called to thank him. Ugh. I can't believe this misunderstanding spawned that relationship." I put my head in my hands and my elbows on the table.

"You _went out_ with that douche?" Edward asked, incredulously.

I sighed. "Yes. For two years."

Edward's face was priceless. I thought his eyeballs were going to pop right out of his head.

An awkward silence descended over the table. Luckily, our food arrived at that moment. I was glad for the opportunity to concentrate on something else and try to absorb everything Edward had just told me. Fuck if this didn't put a new perspective on the last three years of my life. And what did this mean now? I couldn't be mad at him now – although I was pissed as Hell at Jessica and Lauren, those crafty bitches. They were both getting strongly worded phone calls later.

Edward was looking at me. He had clearly said something and I'd missed it while plotting my revenge on my ex-housemates. "I'm sorry, what?"

He smiled slightly, "I was just wondering if you wanted to come over for a drink after we finish dinner." He looked down at his food and pushed some rice around with is fork. "I mean, I don't want to be presumptuous, or anything, but I was just hoping maybe this was a second chance… I mean, not like a second chance exactly like before, I just – fuck. I'm sorry. This is coming out wrong. I'd just like the opportunity to get to know you better. I just – "

"Edward," I cut him off, holding up a hand and laughing. "It's okay, I get it. I actually live a few blocks from here… do you want to come to my place instead?"

He hesitated.

"I don't have any roommates, if that's what you're worried about." I told him.

He looked relieved. "I didn't know how to ask. Yeah, that would be great." He blushed. He fucking blushed. Good Lord – now that I was coming to terms with not being mad at him for that night years ago, how was I going to keep my hands to myself when we were alone in my apartment?

**….**

I unlocked the door to my apartment and entered, holding the door open behind me for Edward to come in. "Here's me."

He cocked an eyebrow at me. "I like." He smiled crookedly. I suddenly had the feeling we weren't talking about my apartment.

Now it was my turn to blush, and I turned away to close and lock the door behind us. "Um, I have wine or beer, or I think there's some hard stuff left from the last time I had a party, but I'm afraid I don't have any mixers…" I trailed off.

"I'll have whatever you're having," he said as he checked out the music posters on my wall.

I took the opportunity to check out his ass. "I guess I'll open a bottle of wine, if that sounds good?"

He hummed in noncommittal agreement, and I went over to my open kitchen to grab a bottle and some glasses. Luckily, I had a screw-top, so he wouldn't be privy to the comedy of me attempting to work the fancy bottle-opener my mother had given me last Christmas. I set everything down on the table in the living room and poured us each a glass.

"Do you go to a lot of concerts?" He asked. "You have quite the collection of posters here."

"Yeah, I guess. I do events for the Crystal Ballroom, so it sort of comes with the territory." I handed his glass over the back of the couch and thrilled when his fingers grazed mine as he took it from me. He was looking straight into my eyes.

"Thanks."

I had to clear my throat and break the eye contact. "Yeah, no problem." Gah! He's thanking me, and I'm a mess. _Note to self: don't excuse yourself to the bathroom, no matter what._

He asked a few more questions about my job and I found out that he was a musician himself, in his spare time. He told me he didn't "do music" for work because when he'd tried, he found it had sucked a lot of the joy out of it for him, which I told him I could understand; I loved to read, but after getting my degree in English, just couldn't see doing it for a living. We were facing each other on my couch, and he'd been resting his arm along the back, playing with a piece of my hair while I asked him about his job.

"Bella," he said softly, leaning toward me a little, "I'd love to tell you all about it later. If I don't kiss you right now, though, I may go crazy."

I was hypnotized by him – I had been since I'd gotten him in here, for crying out loud – and leaned forward slightly myself. "Well, we can't have that," I breathed.

"No, that would be no good. Now shhhhh." His hand moved up from my hair to the side of my face and his other hand slid around my waist, pulling me closer to him. He trailed his nose along my jaw line and breathed in.

I was goo.

Edward's lips were soft and warm and he tasted fantastic. Our mouths moved together, slowly at first, until he sucked my bottom lip between his teeth and I deepened the kiss, pushing into him. He lay back on the sofa, pulling me on top of him as we continued to kiss. His hands rubbed softly on my back, caressing. He pulled away, kissing along my cheek over to my ear, and whispered, "Not to be presumptuous, love, but I didn't get the tour this time, so I don't know where to take you." He sucked lightly on my earlobe.

Ungh. He could take me anywhere in the apartment, including the sofa, as long as he didn't run away this time. I grabbed his hand and stood us up, leading the way and giving him my best "come hither" look. I bit my bottom lip and looked back at him from under my lashes as I walked us into my bedroom.

"Fuck, Bella," he moaned. "Do you have any idea how beautiful and sexy you are?" He spun me around to face him and took my face between his hands, kissing me passionately.

Suddenly, he lifted me up and threw me onto the bed, kicking off his shoes and climbing on after me. I might have giggled. "Let's see," he whispered as he leaned down to kiss me, "I believe I told you I could show you a few uses for this." He bounced the mattress beneath me with his hands, jostling me and causing another giggle to escape. He grinned crookedly down at me. "Now, seeing as how I was blessed to get this second chance with you – and I'll be thanking Alice in a _much_ more sibling-appropriate way next time I see her – I have an idea what I'd like to do with you now that I have you where I want you…"

He lowered his head to my neck and started kissing and sucking along my collarbone while his fingers started undoing the buttons on my shirt. Once he had it open, he lifted his head up enough to look down at me and hummed appreciatively. I tugged at the hem of his t-shirt, and he helped me take it off him. Then he scooted back quickly and tugged my jeans right off my legs – I had no idea when he'd managed to undo them. He pulled me to a sitting position by my arms and slipped my shirt off the rest of the way, kissing me firmly and reaching around to undo my bra, then peeling that off, as well, his lips never leaving mine. He broke the kiss and leaned his forehead against mine, breathing heavily.

"Bella, before I do anything else, I need to ask you a question," he panted.

Oh, shit. What could he want to know? "Um, alright," I hedged.

"Will you go to dinner with me on Friday? Maybe a movie? Some light necking in my car afterward?" His eyes searched mine, and I was floored –he was trying to tell me this wasn't a one-night stand.

I smiled at him. "I'd love to, Edward. Now you know where to find me. I'll expect you at 6." I grinned cheekily up at him.

He laughed, kissed me again, and pushed me back onto my back, staying kneeling above me. "6 it is." He ran his hands down my sides, lightly touching the sides of my breasts and making them ache for more attention. He leaned down and sucked one of my hardened peaks into his mouth, both of us groaning at the contact. He swirled his tongue around in circles, as his hands moved slowly up the outside of my thighs. He repeated the action on my other breast while his hands continued to stroke my legs, moving occasionally to the insides, but never quite where I wanted them – he was driving me crazy.

I moaned his name and he chuckled, starting to kiss his way down my torso. "Yeah?" He said.

"Oh. God," was my reply. _I'm so eloquent._

He grabbed my ass with both hands, sliding them under my panties and around to the front of my hips, then hooking his fingers around the top and sliding them down my legs. He kissed across my stomach and leaned back so he could get the panties completely free of my legs, bending one leg at a time to remove them, and to take a look at what he had revealed. He licked his lips and looked up at me from his position between my feet.

"Hi, gorgeous," he breathed.

"Hi," I was surprised I could still form words.

"I just want to look at you for a second, love. You're perfect."

I smiled bashfully up at him and he flashed me a cocky, crooked grin. Before I knew what was happening, he slid two fingers inside of me and I gasped. I probably made a few other noises, too – who could keep track?

"You feel so good, baby," he groaned, and leaned forward to kiss my hip, beginning a rhythm with his fingers, and introducing his thumb to my clit in the best way. He murmured against my skin, "I want to make you feel so good."

I felt his breath on me right before his thumb lifted and his tongue descended. He sucked me into his mouth while his fingers continued stroking me inside and I almost came apart right then. He started softly lapping at my clit, while his fingers curled and uncurled, bringing me slowly toward the edge. His tongue made little circles on my most sensitive part, and I whimpered, so close. He softly sucked me between his lips again as he added a third finger and I fell, blissfully, into the abyss, screaming his name.

Edward kissed the inside of my thigh as he gently stroked me through my climax, resting his cheek on my hip and looking up at me as he extracted his fingers and ever-so-slowly licked them clean. I tried to calm my breathing and slow my heart rate back to a more normal pace as I gazed down at him. He grinned at me. "How's it going?"

I laughed, "Oh, you know, not bad."

"Not bad?" It was his turn to laugh. "I should hope not!" He hauled himself up and lay on top of me – still wearing his jeans – so he could kiss me.

"I feel like I should say 'thank you,' but maybe a demonstration of my gratitude would be better," I said, gripping the belt loops on his jeans and cocking an eyebrow at him. His hands circled my wrists and brought them up above my head as he kissed me again. He looked into my eyes and smiled, kissing the tip of my nose and shaking his head.

"Not tonight, my Bella. Tonight's for you." He winked.

I wasn't about to put up a fight, so I sighed and snuggled into his chest, kissing his shoulder.

"How are you doing? Really?" He looked concerned, and I figured he thought we were maybe moving too quickly. I didn't know how to explain that I felt home in his arms, despite the anger and resentment I'd been harboring against him mere hours ago. Nothing had felt more right.

I smiled at him, "I'm just glad."

"You're glad?" His brow furrowed slightly in confusion. "About what, pet?"

I kissed him in response. "I'm glad I saw you."

.

**~THE END~**

**.oOo**

*hides* So… what did you think? And keep an eye out for LivingWithEdward's fic… which had better be upcoming! Mwah!

~MB


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